HOUSTON - The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is making positive impacts across the world, Brian Lantz, the senior executive of Schiller Institute, an international political and economic think tank, said Tuesday.

Lantz told Xinhua that international cooperation and shared future, the theme of the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation slated for April 25-27 in Beijing, seizes the imagination of the people around the world.

"A positive impact is the spreading optimism that you find among developing countries ... that their countries can be transformed by linking to the Belt and Road (Initiative)," he said.

Moreover, taking Italy as an example, Lantz said the country recognizes that helping Africa develop its economy is the best way to really solve the immigration crisis in Europe. Therefore, it would like to cooperate with China to jointly invest in third countries, in particular African countries.

Rejecting claims that the BRI is a debt trap for participating nations, the expert argued that the initiative helps unleash the potential of these countries.

"There is no debt trap. China is not engaged in investments with the idea of trapping countries in debt, but actually unleashing the potential of these nations," he said.

The BRI, proposed by China in 2013, aims to build trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa on and beyond the ancient Silk Road routes. The initiative comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.